FICO hits a new high

Article Excerpt

FAIR ISAAC CORP. $94.35 (New York symbol FICO; TSINetwork Rating: Average) (415-472- 2211; www.fairisaac.com; Shares outstanding: 31.4 million; Market cap: $3.0 billion; Dividend yield: 0.1%) jumped to a new all-time high of $98.96 in early February 2016 after reporting much higher earnings in the latest quarter. In its fiscal 2016 first quarter, which ended December 31, 2015, revenue for the credit-score provider rose 5.6%, to $200.1 million from $189.6 million a year earlier. Sales at its applications division (60% of total sales) rose 4.0% on higher demand for marketing and fraud-detection software. Sales of credit-scoring programs (28%) jumped 27%; analytics software (12%) fell 21%. The company’s earnings per share jumped 45.6%, to $0.99 from $0.68—it sold more higherprofit- margin products. Fair Isaac expects to earn $4.49 a share in 2016, and the stock trades at 21.0 times that forecast. That’s a high multiple, as the banking industry supplies 75% of its sales. The possibility of further interest rate increases this…